80-square mile "kill zone" on floor of Gulf of Mexico

The lies and distorted data from both BP (and the government) continues. ABC News:

A mile below the surface in the Gulf of Mexico, there is little sign of life.

"It looks like everything's dead," University of Georgia professor Samantha Joye said.

In an exclusive trip aboard the U.S. Navy's deep-ocean research submersible Alvin, ABC News was given the chance to observe the impact of this summer's massive oil spill that most will never see.

The ocean floor appears to be littered with twigs, but Joye points out that they are actually dead worms and that Alvin is sitting on top of what is considered an 80-square mile kill zone.

http://www.americablog.com/2010/12/80-square-mile-kill-zone-on-floor-of.html

:(

At 5000 feet, that's not unusual. The proper name is dead zone (not kill zone), and they're caused by low oxygen levels. Low oxygen levels in the Gulf of Mexico are caused by excessive use of fertilizer in the Mississippi river watershed. The subsidized corn grown in Iowa is probably more of culprit. Thus far, the biodegradation of oil hasn't been shown to depress the oxygen levels as much as nitrogen fertilizer does. And this is a very serious problem, which goes under-reported.

I saw the ABC news report, it's weak. Dr. Samantha Joye has already been criticized by other scientists as a publicity hound. I myself wrote her an email and questioned the way she was reporting the expedition findings, which she definitely hyped, while denying credit to other participants. She hemmed and hawed and agreed she needed more lab reports to confirm the magnitude of the problem.

The impact from the oil spill is a lot more damaging in the wetlands in the Mississippi river delta and offseting areas. Rather than getting on the submarine (which gets your attention, doesn't it?) they should be discussing the recent closure of a much larger area for red shrimping.